After Bankruptcy, American Apparel's Former CEO Dov Charney Says He Can't Afford Attorney For Lawsuit

Former American Apparel owner Dov Charney speaks during a May Day rally protest march for immigrant rights in downtown Los Angeles, May 1, 2009. Photo: Reuters

Dov Charney, the former CEO of the fashion label American Apparel, was ousted from the company last year and has said he does not have enough money to afford a lawyer for a lawsuit filed against him by a company stakeholder, Standard General, Bloomberg reported. He is now representing himself in the suit and has said he will continue to do so if he cannot find the funds to hire an attorney.

“All of my shareholder interests have been wiped out, and I have depleted my savings on defending my life’s work and legal rights,” Charney said in Delaware court filings date Wednesday according to Bloomberg. He also said he does have some lawyers handling some lawsuits in California, however.

Charney currently lives in an eight-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot mansion in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, but most of his assets don’t compare to the home. He said he is down to his last $100,000 and was forced to sleep on a friend’s couch during a recent trip to New York. Charney did retain stock in the company after he was ousted, but American Apparel's bankruptcy filing in October hurt most of that stock’s value.

The former head of American Apparel was suspended by the company’s board in June 2014 for alleged misconduct and violation of terms of employment, according to CNBC. Some of these allegations included misuse of company funds and sexual harassment policy violations. He was officially fired in December.

The hedge fund Standard General’s complaint in Delaware says Charney’s efforts to take back control of the company violate a signed agreement saying he can’t look to oust board members, according to the New York Post. The former CEO has said he was fired from American Apparel because the company leaders knew he wouldn’t approve of their alleged attempts to sell the company, something American Apparel and Standard General have both denied.